Education Classes

THE BALTIMORE public schools are in disarray -- the result of factors that include too little learning throughout the system and too many special education students, stemming from a well-intentioned lawsuit gone haywire.According to a series of stories by Sun reporters Debbie M. Price, Liz Bowie and Stephen Henderson, a shocking 17.6 percent of Baltimore pupils (compared to a national average of 12 percent and New York City's 7.7 percent) have been assigned to special education classes. While the city ranks dead last in Maryland in spending per pupil for regular education at $3,100, its special education program spends $9,700 per pupil.

New athletic director Jeff Parsons has been appointed the athletic director at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn. He has taught business education classes for the past 10 years at the school. He is also a varsity basketball assistant coach. Parsons holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park. AACC spring classes Registration for spring session classes offered by Anne Arundel Community College is under way at the seven senior activity centers operated by the Department of Aging and Disabilities.

WHEN FADS in reading instruction swing away from a phonics-based curriculum, few students suffer more than dyslexics. Recent research pinpointing a difference in brain activity was credited with proving that dyslexia exists, that it is a neurological condition based in the brain and not a question of subpar intelligence or lack of effort.Plenty of people knew that already -- including thousands of dyslexics who became eager readers, good students and successful adults after receiving the correct remediation.

This is National School Choice Week, an occasion that always makes me think back to 1976, when as a writer for my high school paper, I interviewed retiring Baltimore County schools Superintendent Joshua Wheeler. I asked Mr. Wheeler why our schools didn't require proficiency testing for graduation. "I know we're a great school system," I said diplomatically, "but even so, some of our kids graduate without being able to read and write. " Mr. Wheeler was an honest public servant, and I'll never forget his candid response: "Your question shows that you do not understand the purpose of the public education system.

Two national surveys reported yesterday that sex education classes often fail to address topics that parents, students and teachers believe are important to young people's understanding of sexuality. The Kaiser Family Foundation, based in Menlo Park, Calif., found that parents of public secondary-school students wanted sex education classes to teach a wide range of subjects: Abstinence training won the support of 97 percent of the parents in the survey, but similarly high percentages of parents also wanted schools to teach how to deal with the emotional consequences of sex, how to talk to parents about sex and relationships, and how a student should seek help in cases of sexual assault.

The Howard County branch of the NAACP has issued a report calling on the school system to demonstrate high expectations for all students by eliminating classes aimed at low achievers.The report -- presented to the school board last week by the county National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- urges the school system to make a greater effort to ensure that all students are taught at their appropriate grade level and are not labeled "low achievers.""There are disproportionate numbers of African-American students who end up being taken out of their grade level and put in general education classes, skills classes or special education classes," said Natalie Woodson, chairwoman of the county NAACP's education committee.

This is National School Choice Week, an occasion that always makes me think back to 1976, when as a writer for my high school paper, I interviewed retiring Baltimore County schools Superintendent Joshua Wheeler. I asked Mr. Wheeler why our schools didn't require proficiency testing for graduation. "I know we're a great school system," I said diplomatically, "but even so, some of our kids graduate without being able to read and write. " Mr. Wheeler was an honest public servant, and I'll never forget his candid response: "Your question shows that you do not understand the purpose of the public education system.

The Howard County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has issued a set of recommendations that, while well-meaning in spirit, could prove highly problematic if put into practice. In a report released last week, the group suggests that the county school system eliminate all classes for low achievers, even including special education. Doing away with such courses would establish high expectations for all students, the NAACP's education committee concluded.

Federal law requires that anyone under age 22 with special needs should receive special education, even while in prison. But a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court today charges that Maryland has denied special education to as many as 400 state prisoners.The Public Justice Center Inc., on behalf of four anonymous inmates, wants the court to force the state to identify and serve all who qualify for special education."Under federal law, every child up to the age of 22 has the right to a free, appropriate public education," the lawsuit states.

The Carroll County school board's decision this week to exclude the video "Teen AIDS in Focus" as part of the curriculum for ninth-grade sex education classes is disturbing for a number of reasons.First, the board is excluding an extremely effective teaching tool. Videos can be a powerful means of communication, transporting people to places they otherwise may never see. Certainly the videotaped testimony of a teen-ager infected with AIDS is more convincing than having a teacher simply state that AIDS is a deadly disease.

Students at Corkran Middle School in Anne Arundel County had quite the exercise routine Tuesday. They ran agility drills on their school field with Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk. They stretched with Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. They high-fived Gov. Martin O'Malley. And they heard repeatedly from some of their sports heroes that they should get out from in front of the computer and TV and get some exercise. Shannon Thomas, an eighth-grade student, bounced excitedly as she watched her classmates run and jump.

They line up in rows of five as neatly as kindergartners are capable of lining up - 20 of them, dressed in whites and proudly displaying newly acquired white belts. They bow to the American flag and then to their "master" and begin a half-hour of tae kwon do, a Korean martial art that fulfills the state physical education requirement at Midtown Academy in Bolton Hill. Twice a week, every child in Midtown's kindergarten through seventh grade squares off in the basement multipurpose room for 30 minutes of punching, kicking, dancing, stretching, aerobics and meditation, sometimes to the recorded accompaniment of monks' chants or New Age music.

The Knight family has scheduled a bull roast fund-raiser from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at Kurtz Beach in Pasadena to benefit Heath Knight, who was diagnosed with a blood disease that is a precursor to leukemia. Proceeds will go toward medical costs for Knight's chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant. The fund-raiser will feature a disc jockey, raffles, a silent auction and a money wheel. The menu will include pit beef and ham, marinated chicken, Italian sausage, beer, soda and coffee.

WASHINGTON - As he lumbered toward the Washington Wizards locker-room door, Kwame Brown just couldn't help himself from poking a little fun. "You waiting for Mike?" he asked a group of reporters, referring to his boss and idol, Michael Jordan, who worked out with the team for the second straight day yesterday at the MCI Center. "I'll go get him for you." With that, Brown - all 6 feet 11, 248 pounds and 19 years of him - swung open the door and bellowed inside the room. "Hey, Mike, they want you out here!"

Dim lights, music, a basket of mints and numbers pinned on the backs of competitors marked Patapsco Middle School's fifth annual dance contest. But instead of boogying to their latest favorites on a Friday or Saturday night, eighth-graders competed in the foxtrot, waltz, swing and polka, culminating their physical education unit on ballroom dancing. "They want to know - what does dance have to do with PE?" said Fred Talentino, physical education teacher at the Ellicott City school who laid out contest ground rules.

When Dawn Downing says attendance is mandatory at her high school, she means it in a way no other principal can: All of her nearly 120 students are locked up at the Baltimore city jail on charges ranging from armed robbery to murder. The students, who wear military-style fatigues with "B.C.D.C." printed on the back, take English, math and science much as other high school kids do. They just do it in six portable trailers staffed with guards and surrounded by a barbed-wire fence at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

A group of Howard County residents, calling themselves Parents for Quality Education, have gotten it wrong when they criticize the county's family life program. PQE parents are so fearful that their children will be taught sex in school, they have called in outside help to plot strategy on ways to scuttle the school program.Jim Sedlak, director of the New York-based Stop Planned Parenthood, spoke with PQE parents not long ago and accused Planned Parenthood of everything from benefiting financially from condom sales to spreading secular humanism in the classroom.

Doris Moody said her grandson missed five months of classes last year because the Baltimore school system couldn't find a slot for the special education student who has emotional problems and dyslexia, a reading impairment.And after her grandson, Carl Jones, 13, was accepted into Herring Run Middle School last year, he had no regular teacher for two months. Instead, a teacher's aide ran the class while the teacher was out sick, said Ms. Moody.She is so frustrated with the school system that she's now looking for a private school for Carl.

Two national surveys reported yesterday that sex education classes often fail to address topics that parents, students and teachers believe are important to young people's understanding of sexuality. The Kaiser Family Foundation, based in Menlo Park, Calif., found that parents of public secondary-school students wanted sex education classes to teach a wide range of subjects: Abstinence training won the support of 97 percent of the parents in the survey, but similarly high percentages of parents also wanted schools to teach how to deal with the emotional consequences of sex, how to talk to parents about sex and relationships, and how a student should seek help in cases of sexual assault.

A high-ranking midshipman who resigned from the Naval Academy after being accused of homosexual activity appealed to federal court in Baltimore yesterday against repaying the government the $82,000 cost of his education. Tommie Lee Watkins was a battalion commander and president of the Class of 1998 when he resigned one year shy of graduation, after academy officials began an investigation into allegations of homosexual behavior, prohibited in the military. The Department of Defense established in 1994 that the government cannot recoup money from midshipmen who leave the academy because they are gay. The Navy has argued that because Watkins resigned without expressly stating that he was gay, he must repay the free tuition and board the government picks up for students at the service academies.